Dr Eddy Olafeso is a former national vice chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South West. He speaks with HAKEEM GBADAMOSI on the zoning principle, call for new constitution, and other current state national issues.
Looking at the political landscape, many have shown interest to contest for the presidential seat from the ruling party and opposition parties, what is your assessment?
It shows how deceitful and how the political class had turned to in the last few years. With the quantum of problems Nigeria is facing and the perilous situation we found ourselves and the existential problem Nigeria has, one would have expected that anybody coming out to run for the presidency of Nigeria will first of all do self-evaluation to ensure that he is eminently qualified before you come out. There are few of them that are of sterling quality but majority of these ragtag presidential aspirants cannot even run their family, not to talk of running a nation with these magnitude of challenges and problems. To me, it’s part of the insensitivity of the political class to continue to embarrass the masses of this country and I think we must open our eyes and ears to be able to, as much as possible, cut down as many of them that we have known are part of the critical problems facing the country today. I am not speaking as a PDP person but I am speaking as a citizen of the country, who is equally going through what many ordinary Nigerians are going through: lack of infrastructure, insecurity, economic failure, and quantum of them,. The country is in comatose and yet we have all these undercut people running from pillar to pole. There was a tragic train attack that is over a month now. The terrorists are still keeping hostage Nigerians and these people never mentioned this wherever they go, not to even mention those in captivity. It’s a shame on the nation.
Despite the money attached to the nomination form and expression of interest forms for the presidential position by the two major parties, the number of aspirants keep increasing every day. What do you think is responsible for this?
They have cornered the resources of this country; that is what is telling us. The only people that have the money are those politicians that were given responsibilities yesterday, ministers, mention them, the specially favoured people in the last eight years are those running around and they are ready and willing to pay the money, no matter the amount: N50 million or N100 million. Many of us fail to say that we must democratise the process of electing leaders. The party must be strong enough to command and control its members to do what is right by their own constitution. But what we see on a daily basis is the weakening of the powers of the party and emergence of very powerful party individuals who don’t care about the institution in the country and here we are, individuals richer than their country and stronger than the institutions. This is dangerous for democracy. From those we are copying or learning democracy, the highest they can pay to run an office is $500 and people contribute money for you. Here, it is person who has the money and he buys whoever he wants to buy and gets into the office and forgets everybody. Please tell them: Nigerians are dying; why can’t they listen to us? Is there anyone out there in the political class that can listen to Nigerians at this moment? Let them know what we are going through: the needless death, needless hunger, hardship. Is there anyone out there listening? Please, tell them this country is no longer at ease. That’s the reason an individual will be bold enough and say, ‘yes I am buying a form for N100 million or N50 million. Some of us in the past, you may wish to ask that we pay N21 million to obtain form for the governorship, yes, maybe some of us by the virtue of our record which you’re aware of in the state, may make us make that sacrifice to see that if we get to power, we may change everything, but what are these people looking for? Even the party that failed us colossally for the last seven years still some quantum of people are coming out there, to do what? Those who praised the president for the best policies ever enunciated, supported him on daily basis and thank him for everything for how best he has served the country are coming out. To come and do what? To further pauperise the economy and the country the more or create further insecurity, or create vacuum of leadership?
I have a relation that was kidnapped inside the train in Kaduna. It is over one month of pain for her family and yet these same people are running around and don’t even remember them in their campaign any longer. You remember Leah Sharibu, they are all parents, and how many people remember the young girl? Does it mean she was not a Nigerian, or if it happened to their own daughter, what would they have done? It is to show how insensitive they are; for somebody to say our form is N100 million if you want to be President of the worst-run country in whole world, a country that is brandishing the worst form of capital development and here we are celebrating the government, with that kind of exposure; to let all of us know that the money is in their hands anyway and that all the money borrowed everywhere had actually found its way into their private pockets. What is the role of the Economic and financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC)? they are probably a wing of the ruling party. I feel pain; you can see it in my eyes; hear it in my voice. Some of us came through a very responsive and responsible government. Without Chief Obafemi Awolowo, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you speaking the second language and going through all the way. But is that what we are seeing today? There is no middle class anymore; most of the children of the poor have left schools; they are in the Yahoo Yahoo parlour, they now do all forms of crimes, kidnappings, barbarism, killing for money, at no time in the history of our nation that we have been at this junction. We are about to fall into to the precipice. For all those coming to be President, you better gather your loins, luckily there is no money to be taken anymore, and the basket is empty. They are welcome to the N100 million they want to pay but we are here and we judge in the final analysis.
But do you elections taking place in 2023 with all these happenings around us?
If all these signals we are hearing from all the places are true, how can you hold an election in an insecure environment? Just ordinary registration, somebody had already murdered; each day you hear about people being killed. Then, how can a free and fair election hold in such a very terrible atmosphere. But I pray it holds. The truth is that the major political parties have held the country in jugular; eventually they will still produce one out of them. You cannot see surprises in the Nigeria’s political arena because everything is defined by money. You cannot find a surprise. The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) cannot win, the National Conscience Party (NCP) cannot produce a president that will ever been seen; it’s all about money. This is to show how much they have destroyed the political environment
What do you think the failure of consensus arrangement by some governors in the northern states portends for the presidential aspirants?
It did not come to me as surprise that there is not going to be consensus, nobody works for the betterment of the society today to the point of willing to relinquish his own ambition for society to thrive or to say this person is better than me or I am better than this person or this person might be able to do the job, it doesn’t exist with the political class. For some of us that have it, it because of our education and probably our home training that says you’re not more important than the society which you find yourself that we can all collectively salvage this nation together. So, it didn’t come to me as surprise that the consensus failed but we continue to try, there are few people out there of these Presidential aspirants, there are few people that have enough credentials to be the President of Nigeria in this difficult time but more are just jesters and jokers
This agitations that power should be shifted to the South?
I have listen to it all and I have taken my time to analyse all the submissions. There are basic truth in some of the arguments, especially some of the zones that had not been given the opportunity partake in the brotherhood in the governance of their own country for whatever reason it may be.
Like the South-East?
Yes, like the South-East. I understand their callings, I understand their expectations but at the same time, we must begin to drag ourselves away from those things that pluck us down for more than six decades and continue in new format and system of looking up for the best among all of us, without having to make it a geographical matter. They can come from anywhere; it could even be from Jonathan’s village again it could be anywhere and it must not be a situation where you stick to your gun that it must be this. We all must learn to make sacrifices if this nation will survive and each moment must regulate our expectations and i believe this time should douse all those things that we regionalism a very important critical element of nation building which is leadership and part of the reasons why we have failed for all these long six decades is because of poor leadership. If we don’t get it right in 2023, I am afraid the history of Nigeria will come to an end as it is known today.
There was a call for Interim government for six months by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Afe Babalola. Do you see this necessary?
I can feel the frustration of the elder statesman over the issue and workability of the current constitution but I tell you, go and write a constitution in heaven and hand it over to Nigerians, they will supplant it in the first instance and they’ve been doing that and I think that’s the reason the elders statesman said, ‘let’s take a pause and in the next six month and let’s see what we can do.’ But to me, it’s clearly different; a bad constitution can be made good by the operators of the document. This begins with the value system; it begins from your own heart, from responsible leadership, and it begins from the position that you’re not serving yourself but serving the people. So, for me if the new constitution will bring about value orientation and the political class will take a new look at the country but for me, even what we have as defective as it is, we can make it work if we have fairness and equity as the base of our relationship with every other person. What happened to federal character; what happened to all things injected in the constitution to balance out; what happened to zoning; what happened to regionalism and what happened to all the years of economic development and all the theories we have propounded? Everything thrown into the Atlantic Ocean or possibly thrown to the Sahara desert. So, our ability to run this country will depend on value re-orientation. This generation has failed virtually all those coming behind us. So, either you change the constitution or not but if you still allow the current political class to operate it, they will find a quagmire to put the nation.
And the call for Unity Government by Papa Ayo Adebanjo, the Afenifere leader?
Like I said, it’s borne out of their frustration. What exactly did the constitution say before? This constitution did not work against the nation being united and that is the reason we have all the principal position in government being zone to specific people. That to me can bring unity if it’s properly managed and operated by those that are saddled with the responsibility of doing just that, but would they do it? If a party wins election like during the PDP era, nobody looks at your party to be able to give a responsibility for which you have to prove yourself to be efficient and professional about. Look for the best hands in the country, not on the basis of the party they hailed from. The parties, whoever is in power must constantly look for the unity of the country and to me, no matter what you call it, unless you do that this imbalance will continue, the constitution does not say that Nigeria must not be united, it is the operators that decided that it must be my Fulani brothers or my Yoruba or Igbo persons that must occupy this position or that and has it really work? It will not work unless our value orientation is equally considered.
What stand do you think PDP should take if they want to win the next general election?
To the best of my knowledge there is no final decision by the NEC on the submission of Ortom’s committee but be that as it may the open discussion among some of us is to give everybody equal chance to present exactly what they have for the country, the solutions to the problems that is bedvelling us in this country today, security, economy, corruption. Corruption, the same platform of which APC come to rob Nigeria but suddenly they are institutionalising it, suddenly some people jailed are already being pardoned on the allegations of corruption. Those are the critical things we must look at for us to see those who can support and ensure we bring this to an end because the nation is bleeding, whichever way you look at it.
and then